Most people’s experience of artificial intelligence has been the chatbot: ask a question, get an answer. That use is still growing. What is changing—and what matters for Contrarius’ Funds—is the next layer of demand.
Most people’s experience of artificial intelligence has been the chatbot: ask a question, get an answer. That use is still growing. What is changing—and what matters for Contrarius’ Funds—is the next layer of demand.
When the words ‘hedge fund’ run through investors’ minds, cocaine-fuelled images of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, may accompany them.
Fair dues. In the past, the global hedge fund sector attracted more than its share of larger-than-life alpha males not known for their ethics or compassion. But that was then and this is now. And with global equity markets getting rockier, investors are increasingly looking for reliable absolute return strategies to protect their portfolios from market volatility.
Private credit is having a 'Goldilocks' moment, with higher-for-longer interest rates driving double-digit returns. Once an overlooked investment class, Australia’s private credit market has exploded in recent years and is on track to reach $200 billion of assets under management, growing at a compound growth rate of 23% p.a.
It’s been a wild ride for investors of late with volatility returning to global markets catalysed by the unwinding of the Yen carry trade. Whilst intermittent volatility shouldn’t surprise anyone, it has surprised the investors who’d grown to believe that equity markets gradually increase in value forever.
What investors do next will arguably define whether 2024 is a good or a bad year for their portfolios…
What began as a tool for young investors and self-managed superannuation funds seeking diversification and exposure to harder-to-access asset classes like international equities has now become a mainstream investment.
As the transition towards a low carbon, more sustainable world accelerates, many investors have assumed that ESG is connected with the impact needed to address the world’s environmental and social challenges for the simple reason they hear the term so often.
But there’s more to it than that. So what is ESG? And what isn’t it?
Unitised funds, which pool investments from multiple investors and invest in a broad portfolio of assets, allow investors to access the in-depth knowledge, research, and ongoing monitoring of professional managers.
Learning from successful professional fund managers is often a shortcut to better investment results. It’s equally informative when there’s a noteworthy shift that brings a previously successful investment strategy into question. Enter the Dalio dilemma.
For many years since its 1989 peak the Japanese stock market underperformed its developed world counterparts, and most global investors’ Japanese allocations trended lower.
But that was then and this is now. The Japanese market recently broke through its 1989 peak propelled by improved governance, yen weakness, and better capital management.
Index concentration is increasingly becoming a concern for investors worldwide.
Consider the S&P 500 Index, the most popular benchmark for US stocks. Over the past decade, the top 10 companies' share of the index's market value has surged from 14% to 33%. This means investing in the S&P 500 largely hinges on the performance of these top 10 companies, the majority of which are tech giants.
With inflation and interest rates remaining higher for longer, the implications for which investment themes have been outperforming and underperforming in recent months has been profound.
With inflation and interest rates remaining higher for longer, the implications for which investment themes have been outperforming and underperforming in recent months has been profound.
The mortgage fund asset class has grown and matured in recent years. For good reason. Mortgage funds often offer investors attractive risk-adjusted returns by virtue of their superior yields. But as with all asset classes, not all mortgage funds are created equal. The recent challenges experienced by GEMI Capital’s investors provide a timely reminder of what can go wrong in this asset class.